Fletcher Elects Preston Blakely Mayor

The town of Fletcher, just across the Henderson County line, elected Preston Blakely as its second African American mayor on Nov. 2, 2021.

A resident of the town for more than 20 years, Blakely earned his BA in Political Science and African American Diaspora Studies from UNC Greensboro and an MA in Public Affairs from Western Carolina. At 27, he’s the youngest mayor in the town’s history—though the town has existed as a town only a few years longer, since its incorporation in 1989.

Breaking New Ground, Facing Old Dirt

Blakely, grandson of civil rights leader Oralene Simmons of Asheville, first ran for public office two years ago, when he ran a grass-roots campaign for a seat on the Fletcher Town Council. He won that race handily against an incumbent who did almost no campaigning. Blakely took approximately 70% of the vote in a town where African Americans make up only 4.1% of the residents.

This year, facing a conservative Republican pastor, Blakely took 719 votes, or 55.2%, compared to his opponent’s 583 (44.7%). But this year’s campaign had some ugly elements, including anonymous flyers disparaging Blakely as an “Asheville Democrat” and a “liberal-progressive.” The clearly racial subtext included phrases falsely asserting that Blakely supported “the urbanization of Fletcher,” “low-income housing,” and “racially based” government spending.

According to Blakely, the Republican candidate, Phillip Luther, called him to deny any involvement in the flyers, a denial Blakely takes at face value. And in fact, the mayor-elect’s entire focus is on what Fletcher needs, rather than trying to remake the town he grew up in more like Asheville.

We asked him about the priorities that Fletcher faces, and that he’ll face, in his new role.

Priorities and Goals

“There are many issues that Fletcher residents are prioritizing,” he told us. “Residents are very interested in growth. We are experiencing lots of growth in WNC and residents want us to make sure we are planning for growth but maintaining our hometown quality at the same time.”

He has also highlighted, both in his campaign and among his priorities, his advocacy for a new Henderson County Library branch in Fletcher, which residents have been clamoring for over a number of years; and that the current vision for civic improvement, called the “Heart of Fletcher plan,” is properly approached and implemented.

In other words, Blakely is interested in using the $8 million-dollar annual budget to do the things Fletcher needs: preparing for continued growth, especially as places like Asheville become less and less affordable to working people, and ensuring that town improvements benefit all residents while keeping a healthful, small-town ambience.

While some larger municipalities have held virtual public meetings during the pandemic, Fletcher Town Council has continued to hold meetings open to the public, and that will continue, ensuring that residents will be able to be heard as they express their opinions.

A True Home-Town Man

Blakely has lived in the town of just under 8,500 people since he was 4 or 5 years old, when his parents—who own a thriving business in Asheville, where he still works in his “day job”—moved there. And although he graduated from Asheville High School as an “out-of-county” student, he has continued to live in Fletcher as a young adult. People know him, and they’ve known him for a long time; residents are well informed of his qualifications and accomplishments.

“I knocked on hundreds of doors during my grassroots campaign. The community knows I am very well educated; they know I have served as a Council member. They know I am ready to serve as mayor.”

As he puts it, “I always strive to be as involved as possible in our community. I attend most events our wonderful Parks and Recreation Department puts on. Additionally, I serve on two nonprofit boards that I feel very passionately about in Henderson County.”

America—and WNC—Divided

We brought up the elephant in the room of the current divisiveness that is plaguing the nation, ranging from local Representative Madison Cawthorn’s Trumpian rabble-rousing to the national resurgence of white supremacy and passage of, in effect, Jim Crow laws designed to suppress or eliminate the Black vote across the South. Given that split, and the rancor that often comes with it, we wondered how Blakely can bring together residents who supported “the other guy” in tackling common problems or issues the community faces.

Blakely admits he’s excited about the possibility of bringing more young people, and in general a more diverse community, into a political process they have typically ignored.

“I just want to represent myself and our community well. I think it is important and significant that people see a young black man in any elected role. We need to be able to see other people in these roles.”

But, typically, he kept his focus on the work he wants to do in his new role rather than the politics of it: “My accomplishments as mayor will speak for themselves.”